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Principles of Employment
1 Chronicles 19:7
"So they hired thirty and two thousand chariots, and the king of Maachah and his people; who came and pitched before Medeba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities, and came to battle."
One of the mistakes that people commonly make is accepting employment at the wrong place, or accepting a promotion out of God's will. Often when I preach meetings in a church I will ask a pastor where someone is, only to hear that they accepted a job that took them out of church. Then, a few years later I hear the awful report how that person's life is destroyed, and it all started with accepting the wrong employment or position.
In the verse above, the Syrians made a big mistake by accepting a job from the Ammonites to fight against David and Israel. David wanted to show kindness to Hanun because his father was kind to David. Instead of accepting the kind acts from David, Hanun treated David's servants who delivered the gifts in a bad way. Knowing that he made a mistake, Hanun hired the Syrians to help fight David and Israel only to find that they were fighting against the LORD. The Syrians mistake was that they accepted a job that was against the will of God, and this decision caused them to lose many people in battle.
When accepting a position of employment, one of the first things you must settle in your heart is that money isn't always the issue. Though many times we look at how much money we are going to make on a job, you must realize that money isn't the only determining factor on whether you should accept a new job. Yes, money is an important issue, but there are other factors to consider before you accept a new job.
One of the things you must consider besides money is whether this new job will cause you to do wrong. For instance, years ago I had the opportunity to have a job while I was in Bible college that would have easily paid my monthly bills. The only requirement was that I must be willing to handle alcoholic beverages. I had always been taught that you don't touch or handle any alcoholic beverage. I rejected the job because I knew it would cause me to do wrong. Any time you take a job, you need to find out what the job entails to be sure it won't cause you to do something wrong.
Something else you need to consider is will this job take you away from the will of God. For instance, will this job take you out of church? Will you have to work during church services? If you will, then you should not accept the job. Furthermore, if a promotion on the job would cause you to have to move to an area where there is not a good church, then you should not accept that promotion. Anything that would pull you away from the will of God is not right. Moreover, if you are called into full-time service, and a job would keep you from doing what God has called you to do, then you should not take the job.
Where you work can highly determine your degree of service to God. Many people have backslid because they accepted a job that pulled them away from God. Yes, you have to have a job to pay your bills, but always remember that if you will put God first, then He will send the job your way that will best meet your financial needs and will keep you available to serve Him. Trust God and follow His commands in the area of your employment and you will find God's placement for your employment needs will be the best and the most rewarding.